Character Concepts
Restricted Types The following character types are allowed with GM permission ONLY. Do not start writing a character sheet for these characters without seeking and receiving permission to do so. Experienced *'Military Personnel:' We have enough, thank you. We don't need more (legitimate) combat badasses clogging up our rosters. *'Kids:' Another thing we have enough of is child badasses. Since we don't have anything in the way of age scaling for characters, characters that are younger than 16 are not allowed under normal circumstances. *'Animals:' There are many ways to play an animal, and many, many ways to play one wrong. If you can't prove that you're going to do the character justice, you won't get to play it at all. *'Magic Talents:' Magic is generally considered a rarity in ZSF. To reiterate: "a rarity". Therefore, characters that have magic at creation are not nor should they be a common occurance. Veteran Characters that begin play with Unique skills such as Mutate, Cybernetics, and so on may only be introduced once per month. There is a line, so if you have a concept that you'd like to introduce it, don't wait. This also applies to some combinations of Experienced-only character types. Legendary Legendary characters can only be created after many years of dedicated play. This covers mythological creatures and pretty much any other outlandish concept that you can think of. Archetypes For the most part, these are the sorts of character types or traits that, at the very least, should be steered away from in terms of central, defining character themes. They are acceptable traits (mostly) in of their own right, but writers tend to take the easy way out and just tie these to their character. A good way to describe the sections before you, is to ask yourself the following questions: "Will this offend or annoy over 60% of the players and/or the in-character cast?" If one or more of these are a 'yes', then you will want to consider rewrites. If for some reason all are a 'yes', then your character will be rejected on the spot and you will need to come up with a new one. Authoritarian While the idea of making an authority figure is appealing to many, the fact remains that you can't simply stat a leader. This is something that you must create in-character, and there are many that will try and fail. As with any character design, a golden rule applies- if others don't see your character the way that you do, it isn't their fault- it's yours. Creating a character concept that relies on the perceptions of others to function properly will likely disappoint newer players as well as players with an overly high perception of their own roleplay ability. And, unfortunately, most established roleplays already have authority figures established as well- overcoming such things is often more difficult than expected and usually not worth the effort. Antagonist The character that is a problem. He always has something to say or do, and when he speaks, it usually isn't any good. An excessive antagonist (semi-humorously coined a "Resident Jackass" by those not belonging to the RP) will usually go above and beyond the call of a jerk, attempting to consistently provoke conflict (physical or verbal), step on someone's toes (figuratively as well as literally), always try to have the last word in any and every situation, and all around be a dick, most typically without any reason except to watch people cringe. Some rare cases may take to direct assault for the littlest of provocations and show no such remorse for the act or it's aftermath. ZSF does have a history of characters who are typically snarky and rude, but your character will be condemned should they usually going out of their way to cause trouble for the people around them, and that makes up over half of their daily to-do list without any sort of redeeming character value. *'Consequences:' **'IC:' A character who is excessive in their antagonistic efforts will quickly find themselves disliked. The chances of social interaction will dwindle; their freedoms may or may not be restricted and at worst, they may find themselves ranging anywhere from being killed or banished by their own community. **'OOC:' Playing this sort of character is gonna make you look like an ass. Attempting to defend or otherwise protect the character's actions will make you look like an even -bigger- ass, and will put you at risk of being pre-emptively judged by your fellow players as well as the ZSF staff in escalating situations. Device Your character is important, and we understand that. Every character is. Your character is not, however, necessary to the plot in any sense. If a GM requires such a character, they will make an NPC for the occassion. If you attempt to make such a character without GM permission, you will be very, very disappointed. Part of this is simply because "this is not your game, you're a player", and another part because Device characters tend to fall flat, either because of poor roleplay or just when their plotline is completed. Category:System Dramatic Again, yes, your character is important. And, like all other (good) characters, your character will have issues. Unfortunately, nobody else really cares very much, and your character (and you yourself) will get a poor reception if your character keeps causing and sharing problems without contributing much otherwise. Excessive Issues I'll use a quote of an associate as a jumping-off point: Staying on topic, a character with statistical traits and flaws may or may not take them too far; becoming anywhere from wildly irrational, overly aggressive, or a completely different person. Such characters might find themselves viewed with extreme contempt/fear by the greater community or be avoided entirely. Note: ZSF has a long range of characters with their own quirks, one of which includes DPD. The example above was used in mind of characters who would change the core of their very being at the drop of a hat. Fanservice Keep in mind that ZSF is a roleplay setting- meaning that the focus of the game is to roleplay, not 'entertain'. While there are no problems with having an attractive character, or even a character that might dress more provocatively than average, having that be the focus of the character is frowned upon, and can make roleplaying awkward for the other players. A rather good benchmark for this is- if you're drawn to describe your character's attractive appearance more often than not when you enter play, you're in Fanservice territory. Static ZSF is slated as an ever-adapting game. Environments and events constantly change people, their values, abilities, and thoughts. This is called character development. This character does not know the meaning of those words. The static character never changes throughout the throes of the story; from the most minor or acts to the most epicly groundbreaking, traumatic or debilitating experiences, the static character will cling to their beliefs or routines, and will always be the same, even in challenged; they may change due a situation forcing their hand, but ultimately they will resume their normal typical behavior, even if it is considered unsavory or can be proven that the behavior is problematic or just nonsensical. Static characters are occasionally necessary in the context of a moving story, but this should generally be limited to NPCs within events. For a PC, unless you're generally new to RPing, this can range from irritating to completely unacceptable, depending on the severity. Sues The unholy abomination. Zealot God's man, the hardcore socialist/fascist, a cynical atheist; whatever their religion, political views or other such creeds-maybe even their own made up spiel-the zealot may or may not believe wholeheartedly in their faith...and then seek to make it an aspect for every single thing. They cite scripture or codes for every situation, make their views either the centerpoint or their defense of an argument, and are always trying to either bring someone to their point of view or cast judgement. Opposing points of view will be most certainly be met with contempt. They might view themselves as the last sensible bastion of their doctrine, or they might seek to to broaden the goodwill of said doctrine on their community-even by force. While a character's possible varied and vast knowledge of religious/political doctrines (or your wiki-research speed) may be impressive or commendable, you're guaranteed to piss a lot of people off if this becomes an issue. Note: ZSF does not in any way condemn those who practice any religion or political creed, but excessive advances for or against any point of view (regardless of their extreme stance) will be met with warnings by the staff as well as the characters. Stat Builds Pure Fighters High Mages Min-Maxing Category:System